Nursing

Nursing is a job that is occupied by 2.9 million people in the USA alone, and it is also a widely respected job. Nursing is an easier way to go into medicine if you don't want to spend 4 years after college in med school; and just like being a doctor, there are many fields to get into.
Nurses can serve in clinics or in hospitals. Hospitals generally see more severely sick people, whereas clinics see mostly well people. Also, clinics are praised for having better hours than a hospital, which is good for moms.
There are many levels of nursing:
Nurses Aid: 75 hours of training and a written exam, work in nursing homes mostly. Scope is limited. ($12-15 an hour)
Certified Medical Assistant: similar to nursing aid, take a test that can put you in a room, check vitals, etc. Many can administer medication. ($17-20 an hour)
Licensed Vocational Nurse: Year of college training, can start IVS, little more limited in medicine they can distribute, works under a physician license, good pay especially when still in school ($27-35 an hour)
RN: JC and State Board Exam or Bachelors in Nursing and State Board Exam, pay scale not a big difference in CA, depends on state, still work under a physicians license ($50 an hour and up based on experience)
Nurse Practitioner: gives prescriptions, goes through long college program

Nursing is a good option for a career because there are all sorts of options, and flexibility in the hours that you work. You can start somewhere like in the emergency room and end up somewhere completely different. RNs can teach classes in health, and you get to have a more personal connection with patients. Nurses feel like they have an impact on people, and they help save lives. It's very gratifying when your friends call you up to ask you what to do when their child is sick, because nurses generally need to have a good knowledge of first aid. Nursing is a great career for a mom, because you can work as little or as much as you want. It is hard to get into programs, what with budget cuts, and new graduates have a hard time landing jobs since employers usually look for people with a long history of experience.
Skills for nursing include multitasking, problem-solving, and working with other people. Sometimes you can't always save a patient, and you have to have a line. You must have compassion, and admit to your mistakes. Nurses also really need to have people skills, and be able to adapt to change.
Nurses do administer shots, but no worries; they have plenty of practice. In school, nurses practice upon oranges or manikins. For the more confident, they practice on other pre-nurses. There's a very good set up nowadays in nursing training to quell people's fear of needles.
In summary,
nursing = good career for people who want flexible hours
people skills = absolutely necessary when wanting to become a nurse
needles = no big deal once you go through training
Blog post #2 complete!

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

   Have you heard about Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease? It seems like most people haven't, despite that in the United States in the 4th leading cause of death.
   So what is it?
      Chronic: long-standing
      Obstructive: airflow is blocked
      Pulmonary: lungs
      Disease: badness
   Alright, pretty simple. With appropriate treatment, people with COPD can live long lives. But let's get into more detail about what it is.
   Who does it affect?
      Age: Over 40
      Sex: Men > Women
   Generally, people who have COPD smoke. That's about 90% of the time what causes COPD. Also, air pollution and airway hyper-responsiveness can be causes. In less that 1% of the cases, it can be an alpha anti-trypsin deficiency, which is the only known genetic link.
    COPD affects gas exchange so that there is less oxygen in the blood. People who have COPD have breathing difficulties and often bronchitis, which is the buildup of mucus in your airway.
  Here's a few good things to know:
      Air: must go in and out
      Blood: must go round and round
      Oxygen: is a good thing
      CO2: must be just right or it's bad
   If one of these things is messed up, you have a problem.   Some symptoms might be obvious since they're the ones of a smoker. Of course, shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, dizziness, nausea, wheezing, tiredness, tightness in chest, exercise tolerance low, etc. are all signs. Some clinical signs include tar stains between the second or third finger, cyanosis (blue fingers), barrel chest (hyperinflated), tachypnoea (rapid breathing), long expiration, evidence of weight loss, signs of heart failure, pursed lip breathing, crackles in voice, etc. Also, doctors can detect COPD by doing blood tests and CT scanning.
   COPD is sometimes misdiagnosed as asthma. However, they are quite different. Asthma is onset in childhood, and the person does not smoke (or if they do, they shouldn't be). It's associated with allergies, and is episodic. It also is reversible because the elasticity of the lungs is not affected. On the other hand, COPD is onset in adulthood, and the person is generally a smoker. Since the elasticity of the lungs is affected, the condition is irreversible and gradually gets worse.
   It is treatable, just not curable. The first thing a person needs to do is stop smoking, which is the number one thing you can do to improve your health if you're a smoker. If the person has lost weight, it is essential that they achieve a healthy weight. Exercise, reduction of exposure to pollutants, vaccines, steroids, bronchadoliators, antibiotics, home oxygen, and surgery if there's an emergency, are all treatments for COPD.
   In summary:
      COPD = super bad
      Symptoms = those of a smoker
      What you can do to not get it = don't smoke
      What you can do to treat it = stop smoking and go to a doctor
Blog post #1 complete!